The Promise
by Neesan
Summary: Ryou contemplates his favorite card. Bakura makes a promise, but was it Ryou’s nightmares or the card herself who caused it? Decide for yourself.


Hello, Neesan here. This is a shortish one-shot fic I feel has been inspired by one to many episodes of the Twilight Zone, though it's nothing *too* weird.  
Warnings: *Misha*: Nothing too bad. Towards the end it might seem like shounen-ai to some.  
Disclaimer: *Chibi Ryou-chan* reads from a piece of paper: "Neesan does not own Yugioh, or me."  
Comments: *Velta*: Thank you and if you would be so kind as to leave a review, Neesan would much appreciate it.  
  
Title: The Promise  
Meaning: A song by When In Rome. Only works if Bakura really changes at the end.  
Started: 10/11/2002 3:36 PM  
Completed: 10/11/02 8:45 PM  
Word Count: 1020  
  
  
  
  
  
'She's beautiful, in a strange way. Is it her wings? One demonic while the other is the wing of an angel? Is it her hair, golden, cut two, three, four lengths? Is it something in her eyes? But they are so small on the picture that you can barely see that they are green. Her smile. Why, if everything else is separated so clearly, why is her smile the same on both sides? Even the half that is angel smiles so mysteriously.   
  
I remember being her. Trapped in the absolute silence and cold darkness for days. It was the most awful thing he ever did to me. The first few days were only very boring. A few more days, and I just wanted to die. A few more ... and I started to forget who I was. Or maybe I was going slowly insane. I wondered, did I always have these wings? Had I always been in this darkness? Was I even alive anymore?   
  
Not that I knew at the time, but he could hear all my thoughts, feel my every emotion. He only watched as my sanity slipped away. It must have amused him as much as any other time he'd hurt me. Then, perhaps the kindest thing he's ever done, he let me out. I betrayed him not a moment later. He was playing the game, and I was a card. As a magic card, I was only meant to last one turn, then go to the graveyard.   
  
The people fighting him, I felt they were all people who deserved to live more than we did. I possessed his card, instead of who he ordered me to. I begged his enemies to kill me, that I just didn't care anymore. The last thing I heard were his angry words, a blinding flash of light. Then I woke up in what I deemed to be reality. I was myself again; the wings, the darkness was gone. Even he was gone, if only for a while.   
  
Does she live in that cold silence? I know the card itself is only a representation of a spirit from the shadow game in Egypt that is as old as he is. Though I barely lasted a week in her place, she has been in that dark, lonely place for five thousand years.   
  
Every time I look at her, I want to tell her how sorry I am that she has been alone for so long. I don't think she smiles like her picture does. Maybe she cries every night, like I do. Only, where she is, it is always night.'  
  
  
  
  
Ryou fell asleep at his desk, pencil still in hand. After a few moments of silence, 'he', Bakura separated. He looked down at 'her', the Change of Heart card, and at Ryou, tears slowly drying on his now peaceful face. Without so much as an evil smirk, he gently picked Ryou up and carried him a few feet to the bed. Almost immediately after Bakura put him down, Ryou, though still asleep, latched onto his arm. "So dark ... don't leave me here ... I'm so lonely, Bakura ..."   
  
"That was months ago, don't you have other things to have nightmares about?" Bakura asked him, though quietly, so as not to wake him up.  
  
"I don't want to be ... alone ... I'm afraid ..."  
  
With a sigh, Bakura laid down next to Ryou, who snuggled up close, and was snoring away quietly within minutes. Barely even annoyed, Bakura was soon asleep as well.   
  
  
  
Several hours later Ryou woke up, but not being a morning person, he rolled over and pretended not to notice.   
  
"Finally you wake up." Bakura sounded amused, and wide awake.  
  
"Huuhhh?" came Ryou's groggy reply. He looked around with bleary eyes, and saw Bakura. Ryou thought it would probably be best to get off of Bakura's arm, which he had been using as a pillow. "Umm ... Good morning?"  
  
Bakura sat up, and stretched. "You went to sleep over there," he gestured at the desk. "So I moved you over here, but you wouldn't let go of my arm. You know you talk in your sleep?"  
  
"I ..." Ryou started to say, but Bakura continued.  
  
"So instead of waking you up, I just decided to spend the night out here. Biiiig mistake there." He frowned. "You're too skinny, Ryou. You're all bony and you snore." He crossed his arms and feigned a glare at Ryou.  
  
" ... Sorry?" Ryou was quiet, thinking he'd upset Bakura.  
  
"No, I'm sorry." His expression softened. "About the card thing. That's what you were having nightmares about last night. You kept going on about how dark it was and how lonely and scared you were." He loosely put his arms around Ryou, in a kind of hug. "I promise you, I'll never do something like that to you again."  
  
Ryou looked like he was going to say thank you, when Bakura let go of him and got off the bed. Hands on his hips and an annoyed expression on his face, he eyed Ryou. "Didn't I tell you that you're too bony?"  
  
"Yes?" Ryou sounded a bit uncertain.  
  
"Yes I did. So aren't you going to do anything about it? Go eat a high fat breakfast or something." Bakura pointed at the door. "Go on."  
  
As Ryou was leaving, Bakura smiled after him. He picked the Change of Heart off the desk. The angel-demon girl smiled blankly up at him from her card. "Thank you," he said, "I realized something because of Ryou's fixation with you. I've been pretty evil to him sense I met him. But like with you, I need to have a side that isn't so dark. I only hope he can forgive me ..."   
  
  
  
  
~Can a person really mend their ways overnight? Perhaps the Change of Heart worked her magic on Bakura. And Ryou, will he forgive so easily? That is something he needs to decide. Bakura has promised never to hurt Ryou again. If he can keep that promise, Ryou will never have to cry himself to sleep again.~ 


End file.
